– Equity markets and funds had another difficult month in April as geopolitical tensions, new lockdowns in China and related supply chain disruptions, runaway inflation and, more recently, worries about a global economic recession all contributed to further depress investors’ sentiment. The Nasdaq Index lost more than 13% in one month, its worst decline since October 2008 while the S&P was down almost 9%, a monthly drawdown not seen since the pandemic crisis. The Fed seems to no longer believe that inflation is transitory and has committed to bring it closer to target. As we get further into the US earnings season, we are seeing that profit margins remain healthy despite inflation.

 – Overall investors seem to be waiting for more visibility, hence relatively low transaction volumes. Lately, we have also been looking into candidates for the L/S Equity Ucits funds, Impact funds and Credit Ucits funds to add to the range. Selection criterias are high and therefore we expect no more than 1 or 2 new asset managers until year end.